It was more than surprising to read the guest column of Gregg Smith in Sunday's paper. If he has read about the school system and what they are attempting to do to help their students, he should also have been reading of the unintended consequences of what the last legislative session has done to state agencies and the people they serve.

No state agency can do the job they are supposed to be doing with the cuts they have to make per the legislature. Instead of going after the school system for trying to fill in where the state agencies cannot succeed (due to the cuts), go after the legislators who thought cuts were better than tax increases and have hurt more Montanans than we can know from the outside.

The legislators did not listen to the people of Montana who told them that the cuts would hurt needed services, so why would they listen to anyone else?

When, oh when, will people stop voting for politicians who do not have their best interests in mind?

—Phyllis Faulkner

Great Falls

On economics

David Stockman, former budget director for President Reagan, has said that supply-side economics is merely a cover for the trickle-down approach to economic policy- an older and less elegant generation called these theories the horse-and-sparrow theory: “If you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows.”

Republicans for generations have used the trickle-down theory (horse-and-sparrow theory) to justify giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy.

Taxes generate income for the government to support the needs of its citizens. When Republicans vote to reduce this income they vote to put federal programs out of existence and people onto the streets. Every time Republicans have initiated the “trickle-down” economic concept with tax breaks for the wealthy they have slowed economic growth and caused large recessions and depressions. Former President Ronald Reagan realized during his presidency that reducing tax revenue was slowing economic growth. He was wise enough to recognize his errors in thinking and raised many taxes back to their original values to generate federal income.

President Trump must find an abundant source of oats for his sparrow feeding horses to keep America from another deep recession or depression.

—Don Hungerford

Great Falls

Belief reinvigorated

I heard President Trump’s State of the Union address and I was strengthened in my belief in the good our country can be again. Our image as a country, that our Founding Fathers created, has been so marred and eroded for decades. We finally have a president who is like a leader of a great nation.

I believe President Trump can make our America great again with his knowledge and dependence on God’s divine leading. They requested His ways to build this country we have, but too many have let it down.

As a teenager, I heard President Kennedy say “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” It motivated me to respond when our country was threatened by the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. I want to help make America a source of safety, opportunities to grow for all, and stop handouts abroad and at home. We all must take responsibility for ourselves to contribute by whatever means we can.

I’ve never seen such malice in government as now. Like children fighting and no one wanting to see it. Remember the phrase “act like an adult?” Why can’t our government be like that again?

—Marge Keaveny

Great Falls

What’s going on with the Russia sanctions?

In July 2017, the U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly with broad bipartisan support to sanction Russia for their meddling in our 2016 election and their other acts of aggression toward neighboring countries. President Trump then signed that bill into law.

On Jan. 29, 2018, a deadline to impose additional sanctions passed and the Trump administration announced it would not impose the sanctions despite the new law. This decision was made even though, according to the U.S. Constitution, it is a president’s duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

Why is the President failing to respect the coequal branches of our government? Why isn’t the President enforcing our laws?